League of Women Voters forum: Sides to lay out cases for and against charter reform

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- There is no shortage of debates and forums this campaign season, but city voters on Thursday will get a break from hearing from candidates for office and instead hear from two competing groups: one trying to change the city's government, the other advocating for the current form.

The League of Women Voters will host a forum featuring proponents and opponents to charter change at Saratoga Springs High School, including one of its former alumni who has since become the city manager of Batavia, a city of about 16,000 people in Western New York.

Saratoga Citizen is a charter change advocacy group that has been working for years to change the city's form of government from a commission to council-manager form.

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The commission form of government has the five City Council members at the head of the city's departments, putting them in charge of the day-to-day operations of the city in addition to their role as city legislators.

The council-manager form would strip City Council members of their departmental responsibilities and replace them with full-time department managers, including a city manager who would handle the day-to-day operations of the city.

Nov. 6, Saratoga Springs voters will decide for themselves.

Jason Molino is a 1997 graduate of Saratoga Springs High School and will take the side of Saratoga Citizen to advocate for charter change in the city.

"Hopefully, I'll be able to offer some insight to the community so voters can make an informed decision," Molino said Tuesday.

He and Saratoga Citizen organizer Pat Kane will make the case to voters at the forum for why the city should shift to a council-manager form of government.

Currently, the city has a commission form of government. "It's a form that has worked effectively for Saratoga Springs," said former Mayor Ken Klotz, who will be sitting with Jane Weihe at the forum and representing SUCCESS, a group that champions the current form of city government.

"I hope that people who are not committed one way or the other will come out to hear the pros and cons of both sides," said Barb Thomas, a former member of the League of Women Voters, which organized the forum.

After a brief presentation of the two sides and some questions from the moderator, members of the audience will have an opportunity to have their questions on charter change addressed. Thomas said the format is not a debate, but there will be some exchange between the groups.

"When there is a back-and-forth, it tends to give people a better sense of how they feel about it," she said. "You get a different kind of response."

"It's a good opportunity for both sides to get their message out," Kane said. He said the forum will be the "culmination" of the roughly 70 public meetings held by Saratoga Citizen since it started working on changing the city's form of government.

"This seems to focus people's attention," he said.

The meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Saratoga Springs High School.